Link building outsource advice

I have been limping along doing link building myself for several months now. Creating relationships, asking for links, writing some articles and press. So far, decent results, but I need to take it to another level.

I used SubmitEdge's 400 manual directory submission product, but still not seeing many links coming from it.

So, I would like to hire an onshore SEO to help me with link building. After getting several quotes from reputable companies, I found the process very frustrating.

I know this business is not about guarentees, but they all want $600-$1000 per month for a fairly open ended service. All they tell me is that they will submit to directories, social media sites, shopping sites, and some niche sites. No guarentees of how many (or what quality) of links I'll get, or even how much time they even plan to spend.

Any suggestions on what I should expect? and any suggestion companies?

4 Responses

Best thing you can do is check fiverr and maybe digital point and be VERY VERY selective in who you hire. Test them on a site you don't care too much about and be detailed in the tasks you give them. Stay away from mass submission type stuff; directories, articles, etc.

I'd look for someone who can truly do niche linking or competitor offset links for you (in house). Maybe someone on craigslist you can train.

I know your pain. Been there. My experience was not good. Tried 2 of them. Even though they promised relevant, gramatically correct English postings, they did not deliver. I believe they were acting as middle-men to low-cost labor offshore who did not write solid English nor know anything about the niche my product was in. Plus, they did some questionable things with links that if done on large scale would probably get my site banned. Fortunately I was able to stop it before it got out of control.

The only way I would use an outsourced service again is to pre-approve every post/article in advance (at least for the first 50 or until I got very comfortable with their work). And that's tedious enough (and time consuming enough) that I'm not sure what value they're adding at that point. I could hire my own low-cost labor and then do the same approval process and then post them (cutting out the middle man).

It's really hard when site owners give testimonials like "my SEO firm is great" because the site owners are often unaware that their outsourced SEO firm is using black/grey hat tactics (eg JC Penny). If you're going to hire someone and pay them hundreds/month then take a *long* time to interview them. Ask for customer references. Ask for data on improvements they've made for their customers (what were the rankings before they started, and how did they improve over the months?). They should have multiple examples of monthly improvement for multiple clients, and then explain to you which white-hat techniques they used to achieve those results. If they refuse to share client references (where you can get on the phone and speak to some of their clients) or data then move along and look elsewhere; there are a million scamsters out there...

I have tried both types of services. The open-ended "directories and social media sites" are not worth it. Honestly, I would hire a college intern looking for SEO experirence and a possible future job and train them the way YOU want it done. Meaning, high quality relationships built, real emails sent with personality, guest posting articles that they can create, etc.

It would be much more value than the bigger open ended companies, unless you get a great recommendation from someone on who to hire.

The truth of it is that those bigger type companies who you would be paying are also hiring the cheap interns who don't care about your business and don't know who you are. If you hire them directly, at least they will care more.

Thanks so much for your input Kristi and Mike. I've had the similar experience with offshore link building.

But what about some of the reputable SEO firms and their link building product. I know there are lots within this forumn. I would like to hire someone to help me compliment what I can't do with my team, but I need some transparency in the practice. Looking to partner with someone that can compliment what I am already doing.